Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.Speaking of quotations on liberty, the following quote is the official motto of my local newspaper:
A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century. ~Baron de MontesquieuOk - can someone help me out here? Maybe its the months of sleep deprivation, but I can't understand the gist of this quotation.
This is how it reads to me: 1. it is possible for a nation to lose all their liberties in one day; 2. but if you only need your liberties once every 100 years, then what's the big deal?
Now, I know I'm reading this incorrectly. This is a pro-liberty quote. It wouldn't be the motto of a newspaper if it wasn't (granted, we are talking about the Windsor Star here...)
Anyone?
2 comments:
Sounds to me like, if they disappear that quickly we'll eventually get used to it and in a hundred years we won't even remember we ever had liberties.
I'm sure that's a misreading as well. People who think they may be quoted sometime in the future should choose their words more carefully, perhaps. ;
huh. i can't even tell you how many times i read that and i'm still stumped. maybe it means something to the effect of -- you only miss your liberties when you need them (and you might only need them every 100 years). or something.
i'm unconvinced.
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